Picking up my truck after a 'retune' at the service centre in Texarkana. Now to park up and get some sleep in the spacious quarters at the back.
This beauty parked next to us while I was sleeping.
Set out to have a look at Texarkana. Aside from what we already saw at the end of Part 4, there's not really that much there. I presume more will be added when Arkansas drops. Maybe. It's okay, but not a highlight of the tour.
I mean, what there is is pleasant enough.
Okay, this is cool. Maybe I'm just entitled and whiny. Or overly harsh at least.
It has one of those junctions with the characteristic Texas U-turn feature, which is pretty handy sometimes, especially if you're busy chatting or eating sticky buns and you miss your exit.
Looks like a Taylor jobsite. No rockets this time, but that shouldn't really be a source of disappointment... Ach jo. I just really like the sea, ports and rockets. Poor ol' Krigl.
Well, that's about it. Let's get something to haul, then.
Picking up Insulation Panels to take to Dallas.
Leaving town.
And we're on our way. Well, with Part 5 being 'The Best Bit' of the Texas DLC, where does that leave us with Part 6?
I've completed about half of it so far and it seems a decent region to me. There is one thing special about it - it's the first region of the rest of the thread.
That sounds a bit trite, but it is kind of accurate in a sense, just like when someone tells a person on their wedding day that it's the first day of the rest of their life. The previous parts were all about covering the diverse regions of the enormous state of Texas. With Part 6 we are looking at moving upwards and outwards. Everywhere you go there are signs and roads leading to Oklahoma - I think there are 10 roads that cross the border between the two states, though I've decided to remain exclusively in Texas for Part 6. And of course, Texarkana also borders on Arkansas, and in fact northeast Texas is probably quite similar to Arkansas - green and leafy, and more densely urbanised, just as northwest Texas is more open, with sparser settlements and lots of farming, and so a little similar to Kansas just over the narrow Oklahoma panhandle.
Personally, I prefer the latter, as 'green and leafy' can be a little bland. I hope SCS can avoid too many 'tree tunnels' in Arkansas and other southern states, it's boring not being able to see anything beyond 10 metres on each side after a while.
This kind of look is nice.
Yeah, this route from Texarkana to Dallas does seem like a bit of a preview for Arkansas, as did the last trip in Part 4. Oklahoma and Arkansas are much, much smaller than Texas - small enough to do the whole state in one go. And beyond them lie Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Lousiana, Iowa, South Dakota and others which are yet to be announced. Mid America - the subject of this whole thread. Texas is great, but it's also an enormous obstacle that needed to be overcome before moving on to the rest of the country. So yeah, the first part of the rest of the thread, and this is the first set of all that. Exciting times.
Anyhow, my obsessive brain has decided to divide this final part of the tour into two sections. The first centres around Dallas-Fort Worth, with trips out to Longview and Wichita Falls (the last completely unexplored city in the DLC for me) and around the two main cities. So, the green and urbanised northeast. And the second section will involve 5 mainly longer trips over what I imagine will be wide expanses of farmland, finishing up back in Dalhart where the whole epic tour began. And then it will be time to tour Italy at last back in the 'main thread'. Yay!
This is probably a satellite town of Dallas.
Lake Ray Hubbard, I think. It's not the sea, but it's a nice body of water to refresh the eyes. Next time we reach Dallas, see a bit more of that city, and then pick up something agricultural in north Fort Worth.
Cheers! Krigl
